Surfergeeks

So, apparently me being sick also makes me somewhat of a dumbass. Of course, I don’t know what excuse I have for any days before this week. You see, as mentioned in earlier posts – today is my birthday. One of the things that one must do on or before their birthday is renew the little stickers on their cars. I was laying (lying?) in bed after watching Veronica Mars tonight, just somewhere close to dosing off when I realized – I didn’t do that. Of course, I have to do that. So now I have to wait until tomorrow to do that. Which means that, legally, I can’t drive my car tomorrow. Which sucks for Nikki – because she’ll have to drive me to work tomorrow and pick me up. She doesn’t know this yet, as she is sound asleep. Grrr. I’m such a dumbass.

The quasi-good news is that I’m feeling at bit better now so I’ll most likely get to have my dinner out and see Harry Potter tomorrow night. Since we’ll be up at Masonville for the movie, I’ll just renew the sticker through their kiosk there. Grrr.

I am *NOT* being a bigger baby than Alex. I have made no unreasonable demands. I just sort of flopped out on the couch for a while, and when sleep didn’t come, went back to bed until about an hour ago.

It really sucks getting sick. It sucks even more when you get sick on your birthday. Especially when you have plans for the evening. We were going to go out for dinner to Mongolian Grill and then catch Harry Potter. Needless to say, the cold put the kybosh on dinner. After all, what’s the point in paying all that money and not being able to enjoy the food. Of course, also written off was Goblet of Fire. We’re hoping that tomorrow I’ll feel better and we’ll be able to do dinner and a movie tomorrow night.

It’s Rob’s birthday today, so everyone wish him a good one.

(Oh, and he’s being a bigger baby than Alex today too. He’s sick, which is rare for him, and he’s really being a suck about it. )

So in three weeks, Alex has slowed down in his growing, it seems.

Length: 25 1/2 in
Weight: 15 lbs. 12 oz.

He’s still a big baby though!

2005 seemed to bring about a lot of sad days. Today is one of those days. CNN has a report that Pat Morita has died. I’m sure that pretty much everyone knows who he is, but for those that don’t, Morita is probably best known for the role of ‘Mr. Miyagi’ in the Karate Kid franchise. Seriously – how many of us growing up in the 80s wished for a role model like Miyagi???

No more waxing on and waxing off for him…so sad.

Last night was, in a word, AWESOME! Nikki and I had an amazing time last night and I think that everyone else did as well. It was pretty much decided that we would try to do this on a monthly basis. But we’ll get to that later.

First, let’s talk about last night. We ended up having 7 players. It wasn’t an amazing turnout but it was playable. Nic & I were joined by Craig, Brett, Tim, Tony, and, of course, Jason. We decided on a $10 buyin for 1500 chips. We played NLHE in a freeze-out format – no rebuys or addons. Action was heavy right from hand one. Of course, most of this was because of Craig. Craig never played poker before. Surprisingly though, Craig managed to somehow pull down enough small pots to outlast our other NLHE rookie, Tony – who was the founding member of the first Losers’ Lounge. Never fear, our other poker virgin soon fell as well. Next to go was Tim. Brett hung in as long as possbile but was seriously fighting the short stack and went not too long after Tim. The four in the Lounge started a $5 buyin while Jason, Nikki, and I battled for supremacy. Jason went out next, leaving it up to Nikki & I to battle it out. I went all-in a few hands into heads-up action and busted out to Nikki’s ace-high flush crowning Nikki as the first winner! By the time we wrapped up our game, Craig had already been eliminated from the other table. Tony went next, followed by Tim, making Brett the winner of that one. By this time it was around 11pm so we decided to break out the quarters for some dealer’s choice low-bet games. Craig ran out of cash first and, even after a $5 addon, still called it quits first. Tim followed suit and decided to head home. Tim was Tony’s ride so he cashed out and the three of them headed off into the moonlight. Brett, Nikki, Jason & I continued playing until around 1am before finally calling it quits.

Even if Nic & I hadn’t finished 1-2 in the main event we would have still had an amazing time! Winning just it made it a little bit better.

So, here are the tentative details for the next Poker Night @ Rob’sâ„¢:
Date: Saturday, January 7th, 2006 (UNLESS we have it New Year’s Eve – Nikki & I are up for it but everyone may not be.)
Time: Game starts at 8pm. Arrive around 7:30pm
Format: NLHE Freeze-out
Prizes: Payout structure will vary depending on amount of players. I’m hoping for at least 12 so we can get two tables going in a multi-table format. 16-20 would be absolutely IDEAL! As an idea: 12 people would see the top 4 players take home $$$, 20 would see top 5 make the money.
Cost: $10+$2 (the $2 will be raked by the house to cover the cost of refreshments and snacks. All money not spent on said beverages and snacks will be held for future nights)
After people are elminated side tables could be started for either a small buy-in or strictly cash games.
PLEASE let me know if you’re interested in attending. It should be a fun evening! I’ll be harrassing a bunch of you about it long before then.

Okay, so I didn’t quite get around to posting about the trip each day. So here’s a recap from where I left off. Tuesday, after we were done training we decided that we would head out to Applebee’s for supper. I was joined by John, Rodney, and Mike. Tay and Les begged off – opting to head to this 40-acre (I shit you not) Bass Pro Shops that has an indoor golf range, archery range, stream, laser tag, and more. Apparently the fucker is HUGE! Also, Greg had home committments so he couldn’t make it either. The food was as awesome as the previous two dinings at Applebee’s. This time I had a ‘Bourbon Street Steak’ that had Cajun spices and YUMMY! We also ordered some boneless chicken wing appetizers and some fried chips covered with bacon and cheese. Those were good as well. In fact, I was still full from lunch so I ended up taking the leftovers back to the hotel (nobody else wanted them).

Wednesday was only half a day of training. After we said our goodbyes (everyone else was flying out at various times on Wednesday) I headed over to Jefferson Mall. It seemed to be the only decent sized mall I could find. It had a Frederick’s of Hollywood in it! {mmm…Frederick’s…} I didn’t actually end up buying anything though. By the time I got back to the hotel, I was bored and wanted to go home. Since that wasn’t in the cards, I did the next best thing – sleep! I woke up around 6:30 and decided to head over to Caesar’s Indiana. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to gamble or not but I at least wanted to get a couple decks of cards. So off I go. I get there and finally decide that I’m going to play. I *REALLY* wanted to sit down and play some NLHE but the table minimum was $100 and I wasn’t really willing to lose that much money. I ended up sliding a $20 into a quarter Red, White & Blue slot machine and by the time I left the casino I was up $70 AFTER buying a few souvenirs. Then I had to race back to the hotel so I wouldn’t miss the beginning of Lost (which, unfortunately, I did. Missed like the first minute of it. Grr)

Thursday was a travelling day. I got to the airport in Louisville in lots of time and hung out there until my plane left. When I arrived in Motown at 12:15 I was absolutely THRILLED to see that my 3:05 flight to Louisville was pushed back to 3:20. I grabbed a bite to eat at Chili’s again and then headed to my departure gate, C26, to chill. I get all settled in and then they announce that my gate moved to C22. Off I go to C22. I’m there a few minutes and another annoucement – gate C20 this time. Okay, it’s right beside 22 so I don’t have to actually move. It’s also refreshing to see that the departure time is now back to 3:05. Not too long later, another move – C43. I hike down to the VERY END of the terminal and was greeted with a new departure time of 3:45!!! GRRR! So I give Nic a call and let her know not to bother leaving the house until 4:15-ish as that’s a best case scenario. We finally board the plane and then sit on the tarmac for what seems like about 30 minutes because the airplane crew doesn’t have their clearance papers due to the multiude of gate changes. We FINALLY get airborn and land in London about 5:20. At least clearing customs was a breeze.

I really enjoyed the trip and learned a ton of stuff. But I’m SUPER glad to be home. I missed Nic & Alex sooooo much.

I’ve got a few more pictures to post but won’t be able to post them right now. I’m a few mintues away from hosting what I hope will be the first of many poker nights. Shuffle up and deal!

Okay, I’ve got the first couple days of pics posted. Your best bet is to do a slideshow or click on the first one and keep clicking next from there. Some of the descriptions on the album page are cut-off. Apparently there’s a size limitation on that field. The full text is on the individual page for each picture.

Okay, I know I said I’d post when I made it in last night but I just didn’t feel like it. So here it is 6:30 in the morning and I’m writing. I’ll upload the pics tonight from the flight in and any I take around town here.

The flight in from Motown was uneventful. There’s something about jets that make them sooooo much smoother in terms of comfort. Sure, you’re still crammed in like sardines. Sure, pretty much all you can hear is the drone of the engines. But the ride is just smoother. No roughness to it all – even on takeoff and landing. Hell, I barely felt it when we touched down. Getting through Louisville airport was easy but it seemed that I had to walk forever to get to the baggage claim area. I figured they did this so that by the time you got there your luggage would be coming out, but no, we had to wait around for quite a while before our bags started coming out.

After I picked up my bag, I headed back the way I came to the Avis counter to get my rental car. According to the website the ‘Compact’ line is the Chevy Cobalt. For some strange reason I ended up in a Hyundai Elantra. Nice car, but not a Cobalt. Ah well, it gets me from A to B so I’m not complaining.

To get to the rental car parking lot I had to walk back past the baggage claim area. There were still about 4 people standing there rather expectantly staring at this one bag that was making its rounds around the conveyor system. I have a feeling those people will have been speaking with the baggage claims representative before they left the building.

So I get to the hotel from the airport with no problems. Go to check in. I knew I’d have to provide a credit card for room security but the room had been prepaid. After taking my card and handing it back to me, I ask the representative, “So this room is paid for already right?” To which she replied, “Oh right. I wasn’t supposed to take your credit card.” She fiddles with the computer then says that she’ll fix it tomorrow (today) and says “Don’t worry. Nothing will be charged to your card because nothing gets charged until check out and it will be fixed by then.” We’ll see. I’m not terribly worried anyway. I know work will reimburse me if it does come down to that but it would be nice knowing I don’t need to worry about it.

Well, time to get ready for work today. I’ll be back tonight and will upload pic goodness!

Man…Detroit Metro Airport is BIG. REAL BIG! There’s three separate terminals here but the main one appears to be the one that I’m currently sitting in. It is the McNamara Terminal. There’s gates A1-78 as well as gates from letters B & C as well. Not sure how many gates are in that area as well. And long. There’s a moving sidewalk going the length of the ‘A’ concourse as well as Express Tram – an electric monorail – to whisk you from end of the terminal to the other.

I’m currently sitting outside gate A11 waiting to board my flight to Louisville, KY. The entire airport is WiFi enabled and it’s only $6.95 for 24 hours access. I’ve taken some pictures – not sure if the TSA approves or not, but nobody has come along and hauled me off to a security room. When I get to the hotel tonight and get setup in my room I’ll copy the pics over and upload them to the site. There’s been nothing real exciting so far. Some planes. Some clouds.

I was starving before I even left London so I couldn’t wait to get into the airport. I quickly found a place worth eating in – Chili’s – and settled down to a nice BBQ Ranch Burger and Fries. That killed some time. You see – I got into DTW at about 1:06pm, and once I passed through customs – about a 20 minute ordeal (most of it waiting in lines – I didn’t run into any problems at all) – was turned loose in the terminal. My flight to SDF doesn’t leave until 4:59. So, it’s now 3:48 and I’ve still got an hour to kill.

So, how was my flight from London to Motown? I’m so glad you ask. I HATE PROP PLANES! Okay, actually, the flight wasn’t too bad. Time actual FLEW by (pardon the pun). The final approach to DTW was the worst though. We were bouncin’ round the air like a tennis ball. My flight from here to Louisville is on a real jet though. Jets I can handle. I am sooooo not looking forward to the return flight back to London. I would much rather take Robert Q Airbus from Detroit to London but that doesn’t appear to be an option for me. Sigh.

Ah well, one flight down. 3 to go. Nic’s still got a chance on cashing in on some serious coin…